Life got a little hectic this week, so I didn’t have a chance to recap both games against the Ottawa Senators minor league club. Therefore, this will include recaps of this week’s two clashes in Manitoba… let’s get started.
The Winnipeg Jets farm team reached the quarter mark of the 2025-2026 American Hockey League regular season during this week’s two-game set against the Belleville Senators. Going into the first game at the Canada Life Centre, the Moose sat with a record of 9-6-2 and led the race for third place in the Central Division. The Senators were also fighting for third place in their division, North, and that should mean teams are just as hungry to add more points to their season totals. Manitoba was hot coming into the series, with a six-game winning streak on the line, while the Sens were on a two-game skid.
GAME 1:
This game started poorly for the hometown Moose, as a constant parade to the penalty box in the opening period extinguished any hope of momentum. The plethora of fouls really bit Manitoba in the ass when the teams were already 4 on 4 and our club quickly got a deserved bench minor for too many men in 30 seconds. Back to playing 4 against 3, Isaac Philips was almost immediately called for a ticky-tack hooking call when he used his stick to interrupt a shot attempt by making contact with the lower part of the opponent’s stick. Since you can’t go under 3 skaters, this meant the Senators were given a lengthy 5-on-3 advantage, leaving the Moose behind 2-0.
In the opening minute of the second period, Manitoba scored their first Parker Ford scored his first AHL goal of the season to make it 3-1. Despite the game being even in the mid-frame, the mini-Jets were not able to get closer until early in the third round, a Kyle Clague goal that saw Brad Lambert (3 shots) gets his first assist since his relegation. However, 3 v 2 was as close as this match would get as Belleville was able to regain a 2 goal lead at half time before adding an empty netter to seal a 5-2 victory.
Ford was ultimately named the game’s 3rd star and his 4 shots were 2nd on the team behind the defenseman Ville Heinola (6). GOAL Dominic DiVincentiis faced 35 shots and walked away with a save percentage of .886.
GAME 2:
Hoping to bounce back from the back-to-back loss, Manitoba’s prospects didn’t look good in the opening period on Wednesday night as Belleville defeated our club 11-3 (although MB did hit a crossbar and a post). Happy Dominic DiVincentiis was ready to play and closed the door to keep the game scoreless going into the first intermission.
There was a somersault in the Moose locker room as they came out looking like a different team and it paid off in the first two minutes when a great cross from David Gustafson saw him retrieve the puck behind the goal line and center the puck to his teammate Walker Duehr. The big forward didn’t take the shot, but let the puck slide across the crease to wait Mason Shaw to break the scoreless match. Manitoba broke the game open in a period where they led the shot clock 21-3 and were awarded a mid-point mark when they made another good forecheck, this time by Parker Fordeventually saw Shaw set up Jarton-Dalan for another purpose. A Belleville tripping penalty was quickly followed by a high stick violation, giving the Moose a 5 on 3 man advantage for almost a full 2 minutes. In an almost textbook example of how you want these situations to play out, our PP previously lasted just over 30 seconds Colby Barlow & Ville Heinola set up Brad Lambert for a 1-timer and his first goal of the season. Still with a man advantage, it was seen just 21 seconds later Samuel Fagemo pocket one with the help of Kyle Clague & Gustafsson.
Any dreams of Dom getting a shutout were dashed in the opening minute of the third, as the Senators finally defeated the Moose tender to make it 4-1. Manitoba closed things out adequately, beating Belleville 11-8 while protecting the big lead and were able to add a second marker from Fagemo 5 minutes later. Defender Tyrel Bauer took his first point of the year (11th gm) on his team’s fifth goal of the night, just as a rookie Brayden Yager.
Here are the statistics theAHL.com:
*****
THREE STARS
*****
The Manitoba Moose improved to a record of 10-7-2 after winning 7 of their last 8 games, edging franchises like the Chicago Wolves (Carolina Hurricanes) and the Rockford IceHogs (Chicago Blackhawks) to continue chasing them for third place in the AHL’s Central Division race.
The boys are free to give until Saturday Domenic DiVincentiis (.957 save% in game) some time to rest before Wolves visit for a weekend back-to-back series. Manitoba has already defeated Chicago twice in this long homestand they are in, but both games were closely contested and saw the Moose beat the Wolves by a 5-3 margin.
#Summary #Manitoba #Moose #Belleville #Senators